On tour

Created in 1996 for Hamburg Ballet, Sleeping Beauty tells the modern story of Princess Aurora, now a rebellious teen who has fallen victim to the prick of a heroin needle and a menacing drug dealer who has no intention of saving her. Lifted by the stirring sounds of Tchaikovsky and Ek’s signature dark humour, audiences will dive into the many troubling and beautiful layers of the human psyche, exploring death, love, jealousy, revenge and happy endings with 30 dancers from Les Grands Ballets. “A fairy tale is like a pretty little house, but there’s a sign on the door saying ‘land mines! ’All fairy tales have things in common: princesses, witches, kings and queens, Good and Evil. But each one also has something unique about it, because inexplicable things happen. In Sleeping Beauty, for me, this mysterious moment is the actual prick of the thorn, with the sleep that follows. What does this mean, and what is really going on? I have an irrepressible storytelling urge. Rereading myths, legends and fairy tales, discovering their obvious aspects, sabotaging them and re-creating them—in other words, taking them seriously—is to my mind an act of the greatest significance.” -Mats Ek Not recommended for children under 12. Sleeping Beauty - Information, photos and videos